This invention relates to an improved footwear hanger for suspending footwear in an inverted position.
Footwear such as boots and waders is advantageously hung in an inverted position for display, drying or storage. The inverted position maintains the uppers of the footwear in a natural extended position to help prevent cracking, checking or other deterioration of the footwear. This position also allows air to circulate more thoroughly around and inside the footwear and prevents rodents from nesting inside the footwear.
However, the type of footwear which is most advantageously stored in the inverted position is usually very heavy. Therefore, a considerable force must be applied just to suspend the footwear. To apply the necessary force, some prior footwear hangers have clamped the upper in the area between the upper and the sole, so as to rely upon contact between the hanger and the lower side (when the footwear is inverted) of the sole to support the footwear. However, clamping the upper in this way has the disadvantage of possibly marring or permanently disfiguring it. Other prior hangers have attempted to clamp the sides of the sole. In these, it has been found that so much force must be applied to the sides to keep the footwear from slipping away from the hanger that a moment is developed which tends to twist the footwear relative to the hanger. To counteract this twisting moment, the ends of prior hangers have been sharpened, which mars the footwear, or the ends have been made to act along the same line of force, which is difficult to maintain. Therefore, a need exists for a footwear hanger which suspends footwear in an inverted position, resists marring the footwear, and counteracts the twisting moment to which the footwear is subject.